The case of the disappeared nobility
by moonlightshade
Summary: This story is about mysterious circumstances, leading to someone getting into more than she would have thought, maybe even falling in love? Where does this leave Holmes and Watson? Well read to find out!
1. Prologue

Hi everyone! I simply love Sherlock Holmes stories and simply had to write my own one!

Hopefully you will enjoy reading this and maybe even leave a comment. ;)

Feel free to leave any kind of comment you would like me to read and I promise to give you an answer!! Have fun reading!

**Disclaimer:** Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson don't belong to me! I only own characters with silly names like Luna Skyler and Mr Silkerson. ;)

**Pairing:**I am not sure about that one yet. Maybe Holmes/OC but tell me your wishes please!

**About this story: **I will probably write the whole story from Luna's point of view but I might insert a few chapters from Holmes' point of view as well. I also won't give you a summary, or else this won't be interesting anymore! Bear with me please! ;)

**Prologue**

Before I will tell you about my little adventure a year ago, I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Luna Skyler, I am 20 years old and your typical Victorian woman. Ok not that typical but you will have to wait to find out more about that later on.

A year ago I was working as a maid under Mr Silkerson, a relatively rich man, which is where my story begins:

It was another boring day in another boring week for me. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping their joyous songs, enjoying their time outside, while I on the other hand had to clean my employer's office, put his documents away and keep his, his wife's and his two sons' rooms clean, even though the older one of those two was currently living in Italy and only visited once in a while. Bernard's, the above mentioned son, and his father's relationship didn't seem to be too affectionate towards each other and the visits only ever ended in loud arguing and quarrels. Well, more about that later.

Mr Silkerson was absolutely against having more than three maids in his so called house, which in reality was more a mansion or a villa than anything else.

One of those three was Mandy, the cook and a close friend of mine, the other one was Karl, the German butler. He was a nice guy, but quiet and not very sociable.

I sighed and hurriedly tried to clean Mr Silkerson's desk by picking up his documents and cleaning the desk underneath them, then putting them back into place.

I really had no time to spare today because we would have to greet a guest of our master soon, Mr Blache, a mysterious guy, always dressed very formally and speaking with a pleasant and polite voice, but with cold and impenetrable eyes. He always arrived at the mansion once a week and only stayed for dinner and a few hours afterwards, speaking with Mr Silkerson alone in his office about one thing or another. None of us, the employees, really knew why Mr Blache visited our employer so regularly and what their topic of conversation might be all the time.

Suddenly I felt the documents slip out of my hands because my thoughts had drifted from my original task and with a silent curse I bent down to pick them up again. A letter with messy handwriting caught my eye and after a short look around the room I decided that it would be safe to take a peek.

No one knew that I was able to read anyway and not many maids were able to or even liked to read and because Mr Silkerson had never asked me about that particular subject, it would stay my small personal secret.

I narrowed my eyes and tried to make something out of the scribble on the crumbled letter.

Need more of it! Will arrive at night, be ready. He has been following me, take care!!

Unconsciously I cocked my head to the side, wondering about the meaning of those words and trying to decide, who the addresser of that letter might have been. It sounded kind of suspicious! Who was going to arrive and what did he need more of?? Who was following the addresser? Many questions were forming in my head and I was quite confused because of that silly piece of paper, even though it probably had no meaning and was simply a bad joke played on Mr Silkerson.

You know that they say curiosity killed the cat? Well I almost felt like that cat when said man suddenly came into the room and found me with his letter in my hands. He stopped and his brown eyes widened drastically while his skin turned a pale, unhealthy white. His right hand had formed a fist as he took a step further into the room. Even though his voice was calm and casual, I could still see the anger and panic in his eyes and wondered about what might have caused such a drastic reaction. Was that letter more than just a prank from the neighbours' children?

"What are you doing Mrs Skyler?"

I tried to hide my feelings of guilt and nervousness, forced myself to stay calm and answered him very politely: "Nothing sir, while I was cleaning your desk, I accidentally dropped a few of your documents. I sincerely apologize!"

While saying that I had discreetly dropped the letter into the pocket of my trousers and put the other documents back on the desk.

Mr Silkerson seemed to calm down and after one long last suspicious look, he ordered me to go and to prepare one of the guest rooms for Mr Blache. Thank god I was still alive!

Good thing that my employee didn't know about me being able to read and to write or he might have ordered me to leave and good thing that he had never been interested in my past life! Good indeed or else he would have found out quite a few interesting things…

AN: Don't worry our favourite character will probably appear soon


	2. Chapter 1: Blood and Rain

Hi again everyone! I am really sorry about not being able to update sooner! I will soon have to do my final exams for school and I am studying very hard right now. In addition to that I am trying to decide, to which University I should go in a few month, after having finished school. Please bear with me and don't worry, the story will continue nonetheless.

A big thank you to everyone who read the story this far and special thanks:

To Ai kouu: Thank you for your support!

To Nightzchild: I guess you are right about maids not wearing trousers. Oh well, I guess Luna is special. ('lol')

To Susicar: Sorry about the language, but English isn't my first language either, so it would be hard to write the story in Victorian Era English (Is that even a word? 'lol').

**Disclaimer:** Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson don't belong to me!

**Chapter 1 : Blood and Rain**

I rushed out of the room as fast as I could and only after having entered the guestroom, I calmed down a little. Mr Silkerson usually never lost his trained poker face, which could only mean that something fishy was going on... Maybe something was going wrong with his company?

Oh, I am sorry! You don't know yet, don't you...

Well, Mr Silkerson was at that time, the owner of a fairly large company, which sold all kinds of medicines, but with a focus on antiseptics, to medical practitioners all over London. I have to say that he was quite famous because of that. His company wielded a lot of power and Mr Silkerson had many enviers. To his subordinates on the other hand, he was known to be a ruthless businessman without any mercy. There was even that one accident..., but I digress. Let's continue with the story.

Ah yes, I was cleaning the guestroom while thinking about the crumbled letter with that ominous message. I should have listened to my feelings of dread on that late evening, but I simply ignored them rigorously.

Nothing much happened for the rest of the evening and I retreated into my small chamber to the left of Mr Silkerson's office until the arrival of Mr Blache. He was the same as always and didn't even look at the butler, Mandy or me as we did our best to make him feel comfortable in the mansion. I brought him and Mr Silkerson something to drink into the office and afterwards excused myself. As I left the office I felt a shiver running down my spine and felt the calculating gaze of someone on me. I stopped in my tracks but didn't have the heart to turn around.

Later in my room I heard the silent voices of Mr Silkerson and Mr Blache discussing one thing or another and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Suddenly I woke up to loud arguing and shouting from the room next to me. A third voice had joined the two men in the office and I couldn't quite place where I had heard it before. I was absolutely sure that I should know this third person but try as I might it was no use trying to remember. I just couldn't put my finger on it...

I was not sure about what to do, but in the end I decided to bring the gentlemen something to drink. Hopefully that would calm them down, if not, sooner or later the whole mansion would be wide awake because of their shouting.

I entered the kitchen and grabbed a wooden tablet with three glasses and a bottle of whiskey. I made sure that it was Mr Silkerson's favourite whiskey, by the way. You know: Better safe than sorry!

With the tablet in my hands I made my way back towards the office. The shouting had stopped and now the corridor was filled with a deathly silence. I took one deep breath, knocked and then opened the door, while balancing the tablet in my free hand.

"Good evening, gentlemen! I..." I only had enough time to see a motionless body near the fireplace, then I a dark figure came rushing towards me and everything turned dark around me.

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Slowly I came to and tried to open my eyes. It was a difficult thing to do because my body felt heavy and... wet? I slowly opened my eyes and observed my surroundings.

The room was pitch black and I had problems remembering where I was. Something sticky was on my hands and in my right hand was in addition to that a paper knife. What was going on??

Suddenly everything came back to me. The loud voices, the kitchen, deathly silence in the corridor, a motionless figure on the ground... Oh my god!! I got up as fast as I could and stumbled towards the fireplace. There illuminated by the moonlight, lay the body of Mr Silkerson. I could only see his back but around him was a puddle of blood.

My breath hitched in my throat and I couldn't think straight anymore. Everything seemed to fade away around me so that I could only see Mr Silkersons corpse in the middle of his blood and the paper knife in my right hand, besmeared with the same blood. I was in shock and only after what seemed to be a small eternity, my brain decided to work again.

I had Mr Silkerson's blood on my hands and someone wanted me to take the blame for the murder! The police would most definitely not believe me to be innocent! I couldn't even remember the face of the person who had made me lose conscience because it had been too dark to see clearly!! Even if I tried to explain that I had heard three different voices in the office, before leaving and entering the kitchen on the other side of the house, no one would probably believe me.

Suddenly the door to the office opened and Mr Blache entered the office. He stood in the doorway and simply stared at the corpse behind me.

"MURDER!! THE MAID HAS MURDERED MR SILKERSON!!!"

I flinched. Oh god, whom would the police trust: A noble businessman, called Mr Blache or a simple maid with the murder weapon in her right hand and blood on both of her hands?

Stupid question, I know. I didn't want to go to prison and I even less wanted to die because of a crime I hadn't even committed!!

My body shook violently and before I even realized what I was doing, I had already rushed towards the exit of the mansion. Mr Blache didn't follow me, maybe he was still in shock, or he wanted me to give the police even more evidence of me having killed my employer, by me running away. Anyhow he didn't follow me.

While running, my mind seemed to form one question after the next: What am I supposed to do know?! Where should I go and how should I hide from the police?? I had never been in such a situation before and I couldn't come up with an answer to my questions.

Fortunately the mansion wasn't located at the centre of London and the police would need time to arrive and to investigate.

Something wet hit my cheek and I looked up. It was still dark outside but the sky was filled with grey clouds. It was raining. Heaven was shedding the tears which I could not, yet.

In an alley somewhere in London, I stopped and looked at my hands. I had no idea where I was and where I would be going, but I desperately hoped that the rain would wash the blood from my stained hands.

Nearby someone had hung up laundry on a line to dry and probably forgotten to take it inside over the night. My usual clothes would be too conspicuous, more so because there was still blood on them. I felt really guilty but I didn't have much of a choice... I took the clothes, put the letter, which I still had on me, into a new pocket and changed into the clothes. I threw my old blood-stained clothes away and looked at my reflection in a puddle nearby. My face was very pale and my blond/brown hair was hidden underneath a cap. The only thing visible was two dull, clouded blue eyes, which still showed my shock. The dark grey trousers and shirt must have belonged to a man and didn't quite fit. They were a bit too long, but I would have to make do with them.

In this attire, people would hopefully believe me to be just an ordinary man and wouldn't take much notice of me. Wishful thinking, I know...

Well, at least there was no blood on my hands anymore! I had one thing to be happy about...

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I wandered through London's dark alleys for a whole day, never daring to stop. It was still raining and not many people were outside. From time to time I heard horse carriages jolting over the cobbled pavement and voices, but I tried to avoid them.

With nowhere to go and a slight fever because of the rain, I felt depressed and even considered turning myself in, but in the end I decided against it.

Coughing, I stumbled around the corner and straight into someone. My body stiffened and I slowly looked up, praying to God that the person would not turn out to be a police man.

The man seemed to be an ordinary man with brown hair, a moustache and a round hat. In addition to that he seemed to carry the scent of antiseptics, which strongly reminded me of my father who had been a Doctor.

He seemed at bit startled, but his brown eyes were kind. I seemed to have lost my focus shortly afterwards because of the fever, for the next thing I apprehended was that the man took my by the arm and dragged me towards an empty carriage nearby.

"You should not wander around the city with a high fever like that and by the way, my name is Dr John Watson." was the last thing I heard before having to enter the carriage.


	3. Chapter 2: Meeting Holmes

AN: Hi everyone! I am finally back and now I have time to continue my story!

Sorry that you had to wait so long for the new chapter, but as an apology I have a long chapter for you today! ^^

As promised Holmes makes his great entrance in this chapter, hope you enjoy reading!!

Thank you very much to everyone reading this and special thanks to

KCS: I am glad that you like my POV and my characterizations, hopefully you will enjoy the rest of the story as well! Please continue telling me what you like and what you don't like, so that I will hopefully be able to improve my style of writing.

Nataeiy1: You are my first story alert!! Wow, I am really happy that my story interests you that much! Thank you for taking the time to alert my story and in addition to that leaving a comment!

and Susicar: I am almost speechless that you took the time to leave a review to every chapter so far, thank you very much!! It encourages me to continue writing and of course makes me very happy! ;)

**Disclaimer:** Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson still don't belong to me!

**Chapter 2 : Meeting Holmes**

I simply sat there and in the back of my mind I realized that Dr Watson was studying me intently, felt the shaking of our carriage over the cobbled path and even heard him repeat the same questions again and again. Try as I might I could not make out what he was asking. It was hard enough to keep my eyes open and not to allow myself to drift off into the safety of unconsciousness, to at least find a few minutes of peace… I could almost sense all the questions and suspicions I must have evoked in the stranger with those warm eyes: An unknown woman wandering around London in too large clothes, wet to the bone with a fever and in emotional distress. Even I would become suspicious of myself that way…

The landscape seemed to blur more and more into a dizzying mix of colors the more I tried to make out where we were headed, until my tired brain decided that it couldn't take it anymore. It shut down and my eyelids fell closed.

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Slowly silent voices seemed to float into my mind and bit by bit I began to remember what exactly had happened not too long ago. I needed a few long moments to realize that I had lost consciousness, while in a carriage with Dr John Watson. Somehow that name seemed familiar…

Do you know the feeling of something that's on the tip of your tongue, but you can't say what exactly it is? You are sure that there is something, but you can't pinpoint it? That's exactly what I was feeling.

Anyhow I couldn't think about it for too long because only a few seconds later, the door to the room which I now seemed to occupy, slowly opened. A petite woman entered the room with a worried expression on her face.

"Oh! You are finally awake, dear! I am so glad that my husband found you, or else you could have become seriously ill! Ah, by the way: My name is Mary Watson! "

I was dumbstruck with so much enthusiasm and hospitality.

"Nice to meet you, madam!" was the only thing that came out of my mouth after having stared at her for quite a few moments, while trying to come to terms with my current situation.

How would I explain what happened to me, should I tell her my real name, would the police already be searching for me, would anyone even be able to believe me?? What was I supposed to do? Lie? Tell the truth?

I wouldn't have been surprised, had my head started smoking at that moment because of all those emotions and questions.

"Would you mind telling me your name, dear?" Mary's soft voice interrupted my inner monologue and I almost started to panic right then and there.

"I…I don't know…" was the first thing that came out of my mouth.

Why oh why did I say something as stupid as that?! My mind flew through all possible cover stories and stopped at the memory of a patient of my father, whom he had taken care of for a while. Father had told the six year old me that the man had forgotten his name, his home, his family, absolutely everything after hitting his head very hard because of an accident. He called it Amnesia… Amnesia, yes that's what I would use as an excuse! What a brilliant idea!!

I looked up at Mrs. Watson and almost had a change of heart after having seen her sorrowful expression. How could someone be so empathetic and kind? She didn't even know me…

Suddenly I felt really guilty, but I couldn't change what I had said, there was no turning back now.

"Wait a few minutes, dear, I will call my husband. He is a doctor and I am sure that he will be able to help you, so don't worry, simply try to relax and let us take care of your health."

Before I could say anything in return or protest, she was already out of the door, softly calling the name of her husband.

Shortly afterwards I found myself in front of Doctor Watson, who tried to find out if I could remember anything at all, without much success. Fortunately he didn't seem to suspect me of deceiving him and his wife. I felt awful, especially when they tried to console me… How could I tell them lies and look them in the eye, while doing so?

"I am sure that a walk around the city might evoke a few memories, just take it easy and don't try to force yourself to remember who you are. It will all come back to you in good time. Meanwhile you are certainly invited to stay with us to regain your health and your memories."

"How could we possibly send you off onto the streets without you even knowing your own name and having nowhere to go!" was all Marry added after having seen the disbelief in my eyes.

I protested feebly but in the end it was decided that I would stay with them for a while, at least until I would be healthy again. I didn't know how to express my thankfulness, for now I had a place to stay at least for the night.

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On my second day with them, when I had just decided to leave them and find a new place to stay because I didn't want to involve them with the murder of Mr. Silkerson, Doctor Watson explained that he wanted to take me with him to an old friend of his tomorrow. An old friend called Sherlock Holmes to be precise, who, he assured me, would be able to tell me a few things about myself.

I felt as though someone had emptied a bucket of icy water over my head. Now I remembered why Doctor Watson's name had seemed so familiar! Of course!! I had read about him and Mr. Sherlock Holmes in the newspaper concerning a very difficult case involving one Moriarty. The police had been absolutely clueless that is until Sherlock Holmes had entered the stage and cleared everything up!

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That night sleep seemed to evade me for I kept tossing and turning, asking myself what I should do. Go with Doctor Watson and meet Sherlock Holmes, or run away before it would be too late…??

I did hear about quite a few amazing cases of the detective, but who in their right mind would believe me? Me, a simple maid, when Mr. Blache was a man of great influence and financial power?? On the other hand maybe he really would listen to me and believe me, but I would put him and Watson in danger, for the murderer was still out there somewhere and would most probably follow my trail.

That thought made me stop in my tracks. I hadn't even thought about the real murderer, who had to be out there somewhere and for whom it would most certainly be very… hmm let us say convenient, were I to be found dead. No one would be interested in finding my murderer, while the real murderer would have a wonderful scapegoat for the death of Mr. Silkerson.

The uncertainty in my brain seemed to vanish as I found my answer. I could not put the Watsons into harm's way, I would leave and I would leave right now!! With that decision finally made and my mind made up, I got up as fast as possible, put on some of Mary's clothes which she had lend me generously and silently made my way towards the front door. A wooden floorboard suddenly squeaked loudly underneath my right foot and I didn't even dare to breath for the next few seconds.

You could have heard a pin drop onto the floor. Fortunately the house was still cloaked in silence, no one had awoken and I allowed myself a quick sigh of relieve before opening the front door.

I felt sorry and miserably guilty for leaving Doctor Watson and his wife without a proper goodbye and my outspoken heartfelt gratitude, but if I would stay even a minute longer, I felt that I wouldn't be able to leave at all. It was so easy to feel at home with those two… They reminded me so much of my own family, long dead because of an accident. I shook my head to get rid of those dark and sorrowful memories.

One last look back and I closed the door behind me, shivering silently because of the coldness of the night. Only a few steps forward and I began to jog, then to run.

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I had no idea at all where I should go, but as I turned the nearest corner, I didn't have to worry about that anymore.

I ran into someone, who simply held me by my arms to keep me from stumbling and falling face first onto the cold hard ground. I murmured an apology, while keeping my face downwards, so that whoever was standing in front of me, possibly even be a police officer on patrol, would not under any circumstances recognize me.

Well, no time to worry about that now, I tried to pass the person by. The emphasize on tried! Yes, no sooner had I left the house, had I stumbled into the nearest trouble available, it being a man with intense, calculating grey eyes that seemed to keep me in place without any trouble at all.

"I apologize for running into you, sir, but I am in a hurry. Please excuse me!" with those words I turned around only to stop in my tracks and to whirl around with an aghast expression on my face as I heard his voice.

"I would not advise you to leave the haven that is Doctor Watson's house, Mrs. Skyler!" his voice had a nuance of urgency, as well as strictness.

Who was that man? Was it in the end someone sent by the murderer of Mr. Silkerson to threaten or to kill me? No, no, no, I could not die here!! Panic began to course through my veins.

The man sighed and I could have sworn that he looked exasperated, as he introduced himself.

"Do not panic Mrs. Skyler! My name is Sherlock Holmes and I could very well be the only one, who will be able to help you."

"Mr. Sherlock Holmes…?" I could not do much more than repeating his name and being embarrassed by my own stupidity.

"Indeed." Was all he answered.

What was I to do in this situation? Should I continue playing my charade or should I give up and confess everything to Mr. Holmes? One look into his eyes and I knew that I would not be able to deceive him, his expression said as much.

"My dear Mrs. Skyler, you might have been able to deceive my good old chap Watson, but rest assured that I can see right through your little charade. If you would be so kind to follow me to Backer Street, so that we will be able to talk more freely?"

He seemed very polite and his infatuating, intense gaze did not leave me for a second. So this was the enigma Sherlock Holmes… The next few hours would be interesting indeed!

"Very well Mr. Holmes." And with that I followed him to a near carriage, which would take us to Backer Street.

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